The McEducation of the Negro

Franchising is an outstanding model for selling Big Macs. But it can be toxic to classrooms.

The McEducation of the Negro
by Natalie Hopkinson | The Root

Something wasn't right at the high school that Darwin Bridgers' son attends, so he sat in on the class to see for himself. All morning long, the instructor at the Washington, D.C., charter school pointed to a list of ground rules, a detailed list of rewards and punishments posted on a wall near the front of the class filled with black and Latino students.

Then the students filled out worksheets. That's how it went: rewards and punishments, then worksheets. No instruction, just worksheets. At the end of the class, Bridgers, who works as an exterminator, pulled aside the teacher, a young white male and recent graduate.

"I wanted to know when he was going to do some, you know, teaching," Bridgers explained to me recently. "You know, like, how we used to have in school? She would stand in front of the class … "

I nodded my head. I attended K-12 at schools in Canada, Indiana and Florida in the '80s and '90s, but I knew exactly what he meant. There would be assignments to read from textbooks. A teacher would give a lecture and randomly call on students. Students would ask questions and write things down. Then there would be some sort of written exam to see what you'd learned.

Of course, today the "reformers" say that that way of teaching is old school. It was fine before the days of social media and the "information revolution" and the global economy. But now, as the argument goes in films like Waiting for Superman, no self-respecting parent would ever send his or her child to a "failing" public school like the one that generations of Bridgers' family attended in their neighborhood in Northeast Washington.

For Bridgers' son and a disproportionate number of black students around the country, charter schools have become the preferred choice. The idea is that charters can find a model that produces results -- measured in test scores -- then apply it to different campuses. They can raise and spend money independently. They can have management consultants, and they can compete -- just like a business. As the charter school movement picks up steam nationwide, the District of Columbia may provide a glimpse of the future of "choice": Roughly 40 percent of children enrolled in District of Columbia public schools attend charters.

Read the Full Essay @ The Root

Relaunch of The Backlist: Jails > Schools?

Jails > Schools?
by Felicia Pride

Recently a lot of attention has shifted towards America’s failing education system. As if its ailments are new. But beggars can’t be choosers, I suppose. Maybe the right people will take notice?

There’s the enormous press that Michelle Rhee’s resignation has received. Questions swirl in the air about the former D.C. schools’ Chancellor. Where will she land? Does Fenty blame her? Is she regretful? Versus, analyzing the public school system she’s leaving behind.

Waiting for Superman, the celebrated film about America’s failing education system is opening some eyes to the fact that a crisis exists. But for some educators and activists doing the dirty work, the film settles on the surface.

At this point, it doesn’t matter on what side of the complex problem you stand. All that matters is that we all look center: to our kids. Too many of us are looking past, around, and over them.

Then we shake our heads at young people for not “valuing” education, when, in reality, too many in positions of power don’t. Or more specifically, they don’t value education for all children.

Oh the powers that be talk a good game during election seasons or to reporters. But when it comes to what’s required to provide top-notch education to every child, they fail. Why isn’t their funding pulled?

Prime example:

There’s a quiet battle raging in Baltimore, MD. State lawmakers have approved plans to build a $100 million jail for teenage offenders.

The state has been planning this penitentiary for five years. Their defense: Teens who face adult charges are housed in the Baltimore City Detention Center, but there’s no space for them in the crowded adult facility. The city has been scolded by the U.S. Department of Education for not separating the two populations.

Read the Full Essay @ thebacklist

'Waiting for Superman' Won't Fly with Some Audiences

'Waiting for Superman' Won't Fly with Some Audiences
by R. L’Heureux Lewis

Waiting for Superman is a powerful film about educational reform and the potential of our schools from the same team that brought us by director Davis Guggenheim and producer Lesley Chilcott, the Academy Award winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth. Unfortunately the filmmakers leave the audience hoping for a change that is as likely as a caped crusader appearing in real life.

While the film taps into the concerns that many of us have towards a failing educational system, it fails to provide a full portrait of what is really happening in the nation's schools. If you're interested in heart wrenching stories, see this film. But if you are interested in changing education make sure you bring your x-ray vision so you can see beyond the veil of what the filmmakers are advocating.

The film opens with an interview of Anthony, a young black boy enrolled in a Washington, D.C. school. We learn that Anthony's father died years earlier from a possible drug overdose and his grandmother is now raising him in a poverty stricken neighborhood. With poise he answers math questions and in his eyes you see the glimmer of potential and high educational hopes. Unfortunately Anthony is slotted to attend a failing middle school that feeds into a high school nationally known as a "dropout factory" where 40 percent of students fail to graduate. This is an all too common reality many black, brown and poor students in the United States.

The happy ending to this story is to come by Anthony being rescued by an innovative new D.C. charter boarding school. The catch is that this salvation is only available to a few via a lottery. The lottery exists because when more people enroll in charter school than they can accommodate they must use a lottery system to determine admission. Guggenheim and filmmakers lament this point and stress "we know what works" but we leave success up to chance for our young people.

The story of Anthony and the other families that are followed are touching but do not tell the full reality of schooling, particularly in charter schools. Behind the heart tugging narrative lies an inconvenient truth, that charter schools on average actually perform no better than traditional public schools and often perform worse! In the nearly two-hour film this reality is tucked in a sound bite where the film confesses only 1 in 5 charter schools is excelling. Yes, you read that right, 80 percent of charter schools do no better or fare worse than traditional public schools. It is clear this research finding does not deter the filmmakers, but viewers should not be so quick to skip it. The Stanford's CREDO National Charter School Study has done the most comprehensive work on charter schools and found that they are far from a cure all for educational woes.

Read the Full Essay @ theGrio